Head Pain and Noise

[Johnch]

OK ...I am in no way trying to sell anything
But just hoping to pass along something that helps me some

OK sound is a trigger for my migraines
I can't spend all my time in a sound proof box and ignore the world

So I got talking with a collage professer that teaches at the same collage and works at my Pain Management Clinic

Long story short ..she wants to start a Head Pain and Sound study
But she is already doing another study and needs that one to end before stating another

But she passed along some info
She finds lots of people that get Head Pain , a big trigger can be sounds
People with Head Trama , like I have ...it is many tines 10X worse

So she recomends ( she is working with them ....so they are #1 on her list )Bose Acoustic Noise Cancelling QC 20
Oh there other brands , but she pushed this type and I was able to get a "deal" on these

Put the ear buds in my ears and turn it on and ....all the back round noise stops
You can still here talking ....but it is no where as loud

I am now wearing the ear buds under ear muffs when I shoot
IMO 80% of the gunshot noise that gets past the ear muffs , the ear buds cancel
So this might also help with people that love to shoot the "BOOMERS"

My GF laughs and hints that I also use the ear buds to block out her voice
Butttttt I will never admit to or even hint that she might be right LOL

All it dose is make everyones voice softer :bigsmyl2:

John

[DerekP Houston]

I thought I was the only one doing that. A cheap pair of those foam earplugs like nascar or data centers use, and my shooting muffs over the top. Kills 90% of noise for me. My muffs slip off when shooting rifles occasionally so it has saved my right ear at least a little damage.

[DCP]

I have done this for nearly 40 years foam earplugs under shooting muffs
I have taken many hearing tests. When I tell them I am around firearms. They give me the look.............
After I take the test they ask, how could I have such good hearing?

So I tell them

[Echo]

Somewhat off topic, but not really. . .
A couple of months ago I went to our range, shooting with my son. I had taken some stuff out of my range bag (mainly ammo I wasn't going to use) to lighten the load. When we got to our target positions, and the range officer said 'You may commence fire', I reached in my bag to get my ear protectors - and they weren't there! I had left them on the table at home. Carrumba!
As I walked to the control station to get some EP's, firing commenced. I put my hands over my ears, did the best I could, the range officer gave we a pair of EP's, I put them on, and spent the rest of the time wearing them as appropriate. But.
Now when I whistle (I'm a good whistler), I hear two (or more!) tones. Disconcerting - not really harmonically related - but maybe so. Others only hear one. Anyone else ever have this problem?
By the way, I wear hearing aids - but they have nothing to do with the problem. I'm not wearing them as I type, but the problem is there...

[44man]

I almost never get a headache, Carol wakes up with one. I feel for those with migraines. It might be 50 years since I had one but not a migraine. Just a simple one that an aspirin fixed. Carol is one of those that I can't help.
I can hunt without muffs but not shoot on my range. It will not give me a headache but hurts my ears. Yet I shoot at deer and never hear the blast. Maybe because of longer barrels.
Millions of shots with the M1 in the army and 42 years with the airline cost me high freq hearing. I still hate when Carol talks loud. She does not hear as good as I do so she is loud.
Friend Dave can't hear much so talks so loud on the phone I have to hold my phone a foot away. He never hears what I say.

[runfiverun]

my Migraines are usually set off by light.
what's weird is sometimes eating a little chocolate will stop them if I catch it soon enough, sometimes I just get the extra calories.

[Blackwater]

My tinnitus has been with me for well over 20 years. When I used to go set up my deer stands in trees, I carried my .44 to limb the tree to the minimum extent I could to have smallish "holes" to shoot through. One good cast slug from a .44 will either take the limb down, or make it hang down so I still have those little holes to shoot through in directions where I figure I'd likely get a shot. I like to stay as well concealed as possible, and cutting off all the limbs so you stand out like a sore thumb never seemed to be judicious to me. But I ALWAYS carried my muffs and plugs, because I only shot full loads in it. It seemed that the full loads took limbs down better. Could have been due to expansion on the usual hardwood branches, or simple "blast effect" of the higher speeds. I never figured that out, but sure noticed the difference. All my friends thought I was a bit daft at my insistence on doing this my way, but when I got deer and they didn't, they had to re-think it all. And I always shot my deer standing while many of theirs were running shots. Some finally got the message.

But a .44 in the quiet of the woods is REALLY loud! They thought I was weird in insisting on taking the plugs and muffs, but they weren't hearing that tone in their ears 24/7, either! I never shoot any more, except at game, without my plugs and muffs. No sense in making that noise in my ears any louder! Yet another example of the old adage, "too soon old (or damaged) and too late smart!"

[MrWolf]

Lights and sound can set mine off. For some reason as I get older I don't hear the higher registers as well. When my daughter speaks fast I can't understand her and have to ask her to slow it down some.

[44man]

I watch Fox and when they have a libtard on, they speak so fast and try to overpower any conservative, it drives me nuts. The black guys that won't shut up are the worst. They have a hearing problem that blocks common sense. How can lips move that fast? Women speak over each other until nothing is heard. The host has to shut them down but I would not be as kind, I would tell them to shut their trap. That is noise! I would rather hear a gun.
My wife does not talk fast but she is LOUD and hurts my ears, I have to block out a lot and she gets mad. She will be on the phone and I can hear who she is talking to across the room but her phone is tight to her head. I constantly tell her to stop yelling and how can she stand the noise from the phone. She says she has perfect hearing but NO, if you can't hear yourself and talk louder then normal, you have a problem.

[MrWolf]

Thought mine was the only one that screamed a conversation on the phone every time. Won't miss that.

[Blackwater]

That's funny about the "I can hear fine" types. A friend of mine has played in bands all his life. Guitarist and singer. He long ago lost his hearing in the upper frequencies. He had an old HiWatt amp that was very powerful and loud, and the speakers he had in it were good for his Rickenbacker - had a "jangle" tone to it when it and amp were adjusted right - but it had TONS of sharp, shrill high notes in it. I kept trying to tell him, but he insisted they weren't there because he couldn't hear them.

I had a hearing test some time back, and I have a "hole" in my hearing for certain frequencies. This in addition to my normal 24/7 tinnitus, which seems to be growing slowly. Sure makes life more "interesting." I suspect that's part of the reason I have trouble discerning some conversations like I used to. Ain't gittin' old "interesting?"

[44man]

Working for the airline always got hearing tests but my high freq was gone before then. I wore muffs all day. There were still a few times when the jets hit me. The army did the worst damage. But I also blame my years of shooting before too.
Ever hear a bazooka go off? It will ruin you 100 yards away.

[MrWolf]

Was using a drill to mix a 5 gallon bucket of paint. Son comes out and said it was loud. Problem was with the high pitch was just more annoying to me than anything. I put the headphones on and a huge difference. Stupid stuff we did as kids (or to macho for safety equipment) not realizing when we got older we have to pay the price for being indestructible.

[popper]

my Migraines are usually set off by light.
what's weird is sometimes eating a little chocolate will stop them if I catch it soon enough,
My son used to get them, after he puked, everything was OK. Doc said it was his optic nerve that would get spastic. Chocolate would bring it on too. It evidently is a spastic sensory nerve someplace. I used the ear 'plugs' once as the wife just wouldn't be quiet on a long trip. Come to think of it, I needed them last week. She and college girl friend chattered for 1500 mi. Missed her other girl friend not able to be with us but also not sure I/they would have survived.

[leadman]

I recently got hearing aids from the VA. Testing showed I have lost about the top third of the frequencies we hear in. I also used to get really bad migraines but as my hearing went so did the migraines. Headaches returned when I started wearing the hearing aids so had them block the upper most frequencies, now most headaches are gone. The bad with the VA hearing aids is they amplify all sounds so being in a crowded resturant or other place is almost unbearable.
The audiologist at the VA said that it has been found that even with plugs and muffs hearing damage can still occur as the sound is transmitted by the bone in our head.
I bought a pair of electronic ear muffs from Cabela's to use when hunting so I can hear and be protected from the gun shot noise. I also filed 2 Form 1s that when received will allow me to make 2 suppressors to replace the muzzle brakes on my guns.
When I was getting bad migraines years ago I was given a medicine that was a high dose of caffeine but it was taken off the market because a double dose could have been fatal. Some did use it for this purpose.
I did find Imetrix did work at times but Maxalt was better. My wife still uses Maxalt for her migraines. Found the Maxalt that dissolves in your mouth is not as effective as the normal pill, self injection was the best for me.
To the OP I hope these noise cancelling plugs help you as I know how disabling migraines can be.

[DerekP Houston]

Wow thank for sharing the info. Guess I might need to invest in some higher quality ear plugs sooner rather than later. Never can be too careful.

[Springfield]

If you think shooting can ruin your hearing, try long rides on a motorcycle. Doesn't even have to be a loud one, the wind noise will deafen you after a while. When i was 19 my brother and I went on a long ride, and then stopped at a fast food place to get something to eat. When the girl asked us what we wanted, all we saw was her lips moving. I started wearing foam plugs when i rode after that, but a bit too late, as I now have a high end loss. i have to ask my kids to repeat themselves all the time, especially if there is any kind of background noise. My dad was the same way, years in loud machine shops made him pretty deaf by the time he was 45. Got so bad he just stopped talking to us, couldn't hear the answers anyway.

[w5pv]

I use earplugs + the muffs when shooting,I am at 100% disability with the hearing loseIt is not fun when you are not able to hear

[shooter2]

Double up the ear protection.

Also, turn off the news until after the election.

[leeggen]

John glad you are making headway with the mig. they sure are not fun. I also used to get them. At first thought it was the machine noise but later found it was certain voices. I learned to tune out voices and listen to the machines as being in maint. the machines were important. The mig. became fewer and as I got older less and less. To this day if I am in a crowd I'll start to get a headache. The wife has to call my name before talking to get my attention, still seem to tune out voices.
Good luck and keep us informed.
CD